Van-Far struggles at Clopton

Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 10:22 am

The Clopton Hawks’ senior-night hype started in on Van-Far’s varsity boys basketball squad early and didn’t let up through all four quarters of the contest, pushing the Indians into a 62-40 road loss Friday, February 8.

“Clopton took it to us from the opening tip,” Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said.

“They were a step or two quicker, forced us into some unforced errors, and got several easy baskets in transition.”

Clopton jumped to an early 17-8 edge in the first quarter and posted another 18 points in the second to lead 33-16 at the half.

“Their fullcourt pressure bothered us enough tonight that we really let it affect us on the offensive end,” Connaway said.

“They really pushed us out away from our basket, which made it hard for us to run any of our sets.”

He said foul trouble also affected the Indians’ drive with Clopton dropping 10-of-13 free thrown in the first half.

The Hawks continued their dominance in the third quarter, adding another 19 points to Van-Far’s eight, before slowing down to lose the final quarter, 16-10.

“In the second half we didn’t play much better until they stretched their lead to 52-22 as the third quarter wound down,” Connaway said.

“I thought we fought hard in the fourth and didn’t give up. We cut the 30-point deficit to 18 at one point in the fourth. This showed me that we still have a lot of fight and we didn’t quit. It would have been easy to pack it in and let the game be a running clock for the entire fourth quarter.”

Ryan Nelson led with 13 points; Ethan Gooch followed with nine points; John Gerdeman added seven points; Nick Barnes chipped in four points; Woodrow Jackson and Wyatt McDowell each had three points; and Kyle Decker had one point for the Indians.